Oxendine foes: He's Georgia's Blago

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine's leading opponents in the Republican primary for governor are seizing on a news report that a judge once severely reprimanded Oxendine, calling him an "abomination" and threatening to report him to the bar for ethics problems.

In 1991, a local television station reported, Judge L.A. McConnell told Oxendine he was the "most reprehensible" lawyer that McConnell had seen in "13 years of private practice and eight years on the bench," after Oxendine failed to turn over documents to the court that were relevant to his case.

Story Continued Below

Oxendine is already vulnerable on the issue of ethics and is under investigation for allegedly taking $120,000 from two insurance companies he regulates, with the cash funneled through 10 Alabama political action committees.

Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel's campaign jumped on the report and spokesman Dan McLagan branded Oxendine "the Rod Blagojevich of Georgia politics."

"Everyone down here knows he'll serve a term before completing one," McLagan said.

Oxendine's campaign manager, Stephen Puetz, said attacks like Handel's showed desperation, jabbing that his candidate's opponents have "no message, no money" and are "throwing anything at the wall, hoping that it sticks."

"For over a year, our opponents have been attacking us with unfounded accusations," Puetz said. "What a judge said 20 years ago doesn't have any bearing on what kind of governor he'll be."

But Brian Robinson, a spokesman for former Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal, said complaints like Judge McConnell's are common from the people Oxendine works with.

"The interesting part of this story isn't something said by a judge 20 years ago. What is telling is that you hear these stories about John Oxendine every day, about his skirting the line or stepping over it," Robinson said. "It's a life led as if the rules do not apply to him.

Despite his rivals' ready-made attack lines, Oxendine has finished first in polls of the July 20 Republican primary. An automated SurveyUSA poll in mid-June showed Oxendine taking 34 percent of the primary vote, compared with 18 percent for Deal and 17 percent for Handel. If no candidate takes a majority of the vote, the top two finishers go to a runoff on Aug. 10.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes has led Democratic primary polls but faces challenges from state Attorney General Thurbert Baker and several other candidates.